Politics, N.E.A. Style

WASHINGTON--As one would expect during an election year, the
National Education Association's Representative Assembly meeting here
was peppered with fiery political rhetoric, much of it aimed at the
Bush Administration.

In his keynote speech to the 8,660 delegates, Keith B. Geiger, the
N.E.A.'s president, gave President Bush an F for his failure to make
children a national priority.

As the convention opened early last month, Mr. Geiger also predicted
that the association would endorse Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, the
Democrats' Presidential standard-bearer, by a wide margin.

The delegates were not scheduled to vote on the endorsement until
the last day of the convention. But Mr. Geiger asked the union's
political-action committee to change the voting date to July 6 so that
Mr. Clinton could personally receive the N.E.A. endorsement.

The Arkansas Governor was slated to field questions from the
delegates in an informal, town-meeting-style session on July 7.

The union's politicos turned Mr. Geiger down, though, arguing that
members should not be asked to make an endorsement until they had had a
chance to question Mr. Clinton and evaluate his remarks.

But the jockeying did not matter much. The assembly voted
overwhelmingly to back Mr. Clinton on July 8.

At the request of the Bush campaign, a spokesman confirmed, the
usually low-key Cabinet member unloaded both barrels at the teachers'
union, charging that the N.E.A. was backing Mr. Clinton because "they
will support the candidate who promises them the most dollars for the
least amount of change.''

"The N.E.A. only likes people it can control,'' Mr. Alexander
asserted.

He also charged that Mr. Clinton had passed up an opportunity to
speak to the teachers about "radical change,'' instead talking about
the union's "agenda.''

The combative remarks were a departure from the normally cordial
relationship that the union has enjoyed with Mr. Alexander, Mr. Geiger
noted.

The comments also provoked Mr. Geiger to stick up for his
association and for Mr. Clinton, whose relaxed manner and knowledge of
educational issues appeared to delight the delegates.

"Is the President perhaps afraid that he simply does not have the
command of the issues that Bill Clinton displayed?'' Mr. Geiger
wondered. "Unlike George Bush, Bill Clinton has done his
homework.''

One of the questions asked of Mr. Clinton by the delegates was
whether he would consider appointing a "public-school educator'' to be
Secretary of Education.

"You're the first person who ever asked me,'' he responded. "I don't
want to promise that, since I never thought about it.''

As the candidate answered the question, the Representative Assembly
broke into chants of "Mary, Mary, Mary.'''

It was a reminder of just how popular Mary Hatwood Futrell, the
immediate past president of the association, remains. Ms. Futrell had
addressed the delegates earlier the same day about the planned merger
of the two international teachers' unions.

She is the president of the World Confederation of Organizations of
the Teaching Profession, while Albert Shanker, the president of the
American Federation of Teachers, is the head of the International
Federation of Free Trade Unions.

While Ms. Futrell was careful to say that combining the forces of
the two international bodies was a separate issue from merging the
N.E.A. and the A.F.T., she went on to speak of the need for "unity''
among teachers.

The N.E.A. released a new report on the status of the American
public-school teacher during the 1990-91 school year. The association
surveys teachers every five years.

The results confirmed widely noted trends.

The number of minority teachers, for example, is out of balance with
the number of minority students. In 1991, 38.7 percent of students--but
only 13.2 percent of all teachers--were members of minority groups.

The ratio of male to female teachers has been declining since 1971,
the study found. The percentage of elementary-school teachers who are
men is at its lowest point since 1966, at 12 percent.

The average age of public-school teachers is 42, with 15 years of
experience the norm.

Teachers reported working 36.2 hours a week at school, with an
additional 10.3 hours a week spent on grading papers, bus duty, and
other school-related activities.

Standardized testing proved almost as unpopular at the convention as
the Bush Administration. The delegates adopted a resolution flatly
opposing standardized testing mandated by a state or national
authority. The resolution also condemned using such tests to compare
schools and school districts to one another.

Mr. Geiger said, however, that the resolution would not affect his
work with coalitions that are trying to develop better measures of
student achievement.

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